The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1887-05-07

"DSAHeHco from f08Q the uufOrtunat
man retained caluf and even cheerfD
dcmeanor, Occasionally he espresso,
wish that he coq swallow, but no
Eoften Nor anxiously, when ouestione,
as to his Appetite 10 always said tina
ne telt no sense Of hunger sufficient /.
cause him any uneasiness. Nor was Il,
disturbed by, thirst Probably the *
ternal applications which natural,
tended to allay thirst, to some deere.
Quoted such pains a. the sense of hun
ger might have been expected to bro
anee, for they incNsded strong infus
ions OF laudanums During this month
OF absolute fasting us temperature and
the pulse were utnral. His mind
seemed to retain its full strength.
"He occupied himsek a good deal ii
nis private coaeeI1 y says the account
from which have obtained these par
nculars' the Penny encyclopedia, -
''and, as usual, nterested himself in
public affairs III husband his
strength as much - possible, he was
advised to be mntl IN bed; but, until
the last few days Of lis life, he dressed
and redressed dai and not only
walked about his roo but through the
house. I" His night we're quiet, his
sleep sound and d srently refrssh-
ing.''
Before the deIiriuh slf I'll which
ushered in the final stages s. his fast.
the patient had very pleasant dralis ~.
a peculiarly Of which was that f|sAv
affected him as realities insomuc shat
though told by his friends that &sev
were but dreams hv could not for more
than moment or two remain sure that
this was the case. 40 laughed heartily
mt the recollection ~ the merry Jokes
which had passed au|ang q gay meet
ing he had had AS supposed, with.
two Yorkshire Barone whom he ained,
and told with glee (Which. considering
his approaching END GEMS almost t0
merit the peculiar eliptive BERN
ghoulish, recentiysap Is the pes
dent,l how they had led about the
bottle.
The mental ineo heranca indicated bV
the inability to distin iii dreams from
realities passed rapidly into dehrinm.
during which he was aerpe tually NUT
tering in indistinSt uass with great
Eestlesspess and There were
-Gf0Iis IloeOioJ g Oh -. zss.-s1
now InaTKed signs Of fever, the skin
and extremities being sometimes of a
burning heat and sometimes cold and
clammy. His pulse became feeble and
irregular, and his respiration was for
the first time during the progress of his
illness laborious and painful. He be-
came cross-eyed on the thirty.third day
of total abstinence from food, and COM
planned that he saw double, but the
sensitiveness of the retina was in
creased, not, as one might have ex-
pected would be the case, diminished,
insomuch that, though till this stage of
his illness he had borne well the light
which came through the window of his
bedroom, he shrieked now when the
window-blind was drawn.
In this case, as / have said, we have
stronger evidence of the power which
the human frame possesses to endure
deprivation of food than any of the fool
ish fasting men of recent times have
afforded, because they have all taken
liquid food, whereas, except from his
bath (Which, as he said, produced in
him the most delightful sensations),
our patient had no relief from either
hanger or Thirst.
The othel case 1 shall cite, while re-
sembling the HASTINGS of Succi, Tanner
and Merlatti in being a fast from solid
food only-as also in being voluntary
was more remarkable than theirs in be-
ing of much longer duration. Ayoung
ture began somewhat severe course
of abstinence to cure certain painful
symptoms of indigestion by which he
was troubled. His plan was to abstain
from solid food for a time, taking only
a little water daily, into which some
orange juice had been squeezed. From
the amount given by DR.. william, super
stition as we'll as indigestion would
seem to have had something to do with
the form of folly into which this plan
presently developed. The young man
withdrew from business and the So
ciety of his friends, took lodgings in
an obscure street, and entered on a
system of continued fasting, enlivened
by shorthand writing. He began to
write out the Bible in shorthand, and
had proceeded as far as the second book
of Kings when circumstances over
which, by that time, he had no control
induced him to desist. He persisted in
his plan for fifty-one days without fall
ing in firmness of purpose. But about
this time, finding his strength failing
him, and that he was no longer able to
rise from his bed, he began to suspect
that he might be mistaken in imagin-
ing until now he had done-that
he was preternaturally supported and
was presently to be made the object of
some marvellous manifestations follow
ing an abstinence so extraordinary.
His friends found out his retreat about
ten days after he thus began to lose
faith in the virtue of fasting. They